Life imitates blog!
Oh dear…
My post of a few days ago suggested (in jest) that the revelation that chickens can be cured of bird flu thanks to kimchi might lead to a shortage of the precious substance in Korea. The BBC has obviously realised the significance of this story and now reveals:
South Koreans are reported to be eating more kimchi as a result of the study.
“I’m eating kimchi these days because I’ve heard in the media that it helps prevent bird flu infections,” one man said.
But actually this is only a case of history repeating itself as a similar phenomenon was apparently observed during the SARS outbreak:
There was an increase in kimchi consumption two years ago, when thousands of people in Asia contracted Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Kimchi was reported to have helped to prevent Sars. The claim was never scientifically proven, but according to some Koreans, people in other countries followed their example and started eating kimchi.
“After the Sars outbreak, I went to China and I noticed that the Korean restaurants there sold most of the kimchi they’d made that day,” a Korean man said.
I only hope those kimchi mountains I imagined can come to the rescue.
